Understanding Public Policy

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This leading introduction to public policy is designed to provide learners with concrete tools for not only understanding public policy in general, but for analyzingspecific public policies. It focuses onwhat policies governments pursue,why governments pursue the policies they do, and what theconsequences of these policies are. Very contemporary in perspective, it introduces eight analytical models currently used by political scientists to describe and explain political life and then, using these various analytical models--singly and in combination--explores specific public policies in a variety of key domestic policy areas. For individuals interested in a summary of current public policy in a variety of areas.

Preface

xv

Policy Analysis: What Governments Do, Why They Do It, and What Difference It Makes

1

(10)

What Is Public Policy?

1

(2)

Why Study Public Policy?

3

(2)

What Can Be Learned From Policy Analysis?

5

(1)

Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy

6

(1)

Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to America's Problems

7

(2)

Policy Analysis as Art and Craft

9

(1)

Note

10

(1)

Bibliography

10

(1)

Web Sites

10

(1)

Models of Politics: Some Help in Thinking about Public Policy

11

(20)

Models for Policy Analysis

11

(1)

Institutionalism: Policy as Institutional Output

12

(2)

Process: Policy as Political Activity

14

(1)

Rationalism: Policy as Maximum Social Gain

15

(3)

Incrementalism: Policy as Variations on the Past

18

(2)

Group Theory: Policy as Group Equilibrium

20

(2)

Elite Theory: Policy as Elite Preference

22

(2)

Public Choice Theory: Policy as Collective Decision Making by Self-Interested Individuals

24

(2)

Game Theory: Policy as Rational Choice in Competitive Situations

26

(2)

Models: How to Tell if They are Helping or Not

28

(1)

Notes

29

(1)

Bibliography

30

(1)

Web Sites

30

(1)

The Policymaking Process: Decision-Making Activities

31

(29)

The Policy Process: How Policies Are Made

31

(1)

Problem Identification and Agenda Setting

31

(2)

Agenda Setting From The Bottom Up

33

(2)

Agenda Setting From The Top Down

35

(4)

``Nondecisions'': Deciding What will not be Decided

39

(1)

Agenda Setting and Mobilizing Opinion: The Mass Media

40

(2)

Formulating Policy

42

(1)

Interest Groups and Policymaking

43

(4)

Policy Legitimation: The Proximate Policymakers

47

(5)

Policy Implementation: the Bureaucracy

52

(3)

Policy Evaluation: Impressionistic Versus Systematic

55

(1)

Summary

56

(1)

Notes

57

(1)

Bibliography

58

(1)

Web Sites

58

(2)

Criminal Justice: Rationality and Irrationality in Public Policy

60

(32)

Crime in America

60

(3)

Crime and Deterrence

63

(2)

Does Crime Pay?

65

(2)

Police and Law Enforcement

67

(3)

Federalizing Crime Fighting

70

(1)

Crime and Guns

71

(3)

The Drug War

74

(5)

Crime and the Courts

79

(3)

RICO Versus Liberty

82

(2)

Prisons and Correctional Policies

84

(1)

Capital Punishment

85

(3)

Summary

88

(1)

Notes

89

(1)

Bibliography

90

(1)

Web Sites

91

(1)

Health and Welfare: The Search for Rational Strategies

92

(33)

Rationality and Irrationality in the Welfare State

92

(3)

Defining the Problem: Poverty in America

95

(1)

Who are the Poor?

96

(3)

Why are the Poor Poor?

99

(2)

The Preventive Strategy: Social Security

101

(2)

Evaluation: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Social Security

103

(2)

Social Security Reform?

105

(2)

The Alleviative Strategy: Public Assistance

107

(1)

Welfare Reform

108

(2)

Evaluation: is Welfare Reform Working?

110

(1)

The Working Poor

111

(1)

Homelessness and Public Policy

112

(1)

Health Care in America

113

(3)

Evaluation: Health Care Access and Costs

116

(3)

Health Care Reform Strategies

119

(2)

Summary

121

(2)

Notes

123

(1)

Bibliography

123

(1)

Web Sites

123

(2)

Education: The Group Struggle

125

(30)

Multiple Goals in Educational Policy

125

(1)

The Educational Groups

126

(2)

Battling Over the Basics

128

(3)

The Federal Government's Role in Education

131

(3)

``No Child Left Behind''

134

(2)

Controversies Over Testing

136

(1)

Parental Choice in Education

137

(2)

Battles Over School Finances

139

(1)

Public Policy and Higher Education

140

(2)

``Diversity'' in Higher Education

142

(3)

Groups in Higher Education

145

(2)

Reading, Writing, and Religion

147

(4)

Summary

151

(1)

Notes

152

(1)

Bibliography

153

(1)

Web Sites

153

(2)

Economic Policy: Incrementalism at Work

155

(22)

Incrementalism in Fiscal and Monetary Policy

155

(1)

Economic Theories as Policy Guides

156

(4)

The Performance of the American Economy

160

(1)

The Fed at Work

161

(2)

Incrementalism and Government Spending

163

(2)

``Entitlement'' Spending

165

(2)

Changing Budget Priorities: Challenging Incrementalism

167

(1)

Government Debt, Deficits, and Surpluses

168

(2)

The Formal Budgetary Process

170

(4)

Summary

174

(1)

Notes

175

(1)

Bibliography

175

(1)

Web Sites

175

(2)

Tax Policy: Battling the Special Interests

177

(20)

Interest Groups and Tax Policy

177

(1)

The Federal Tax System

178

(5)

Taxation, Fairness, and Growth

183

(3)

Tax Reform and the Special Interests

186

(2)

Return of the Special Interests

188

(3)

Replacing the Income Tax?

191

(3)

Summary

194

(1)

Notes

195

(1)

Bibliography

195

(1)

Web Sites

196

(1)

International Trade and Immigration: Elite-Mass Conflict

197

(20)

The Global Economy

197

(1)

Changing Elite Preferences for World Trade

198

(4)

Elite Gains from Trade

202

(3)

Mass Losses From Trade

205

(3)

Elite-Mass Differences Over Immigration

208

(2)

National Immigration Policy

210

(4)

Summary

214

(1)

Notes

215

(1)

Bibliography

215

(1)

Web Sites

216

(1)

Environmental Policy: Externalities and Interests

217

(23)

Public Choice and the Environment

217

(3)

Environmental Externalities

220

(6)

Interest Group Effects

226

(2)

The Global Warming Controversy

228

(3)

The Nuclear Industry Meltdown

231

(2)

Politicians and Bureaucrats: Regulating the Environment

233

(2)

Alternative Public Choice Solutions

235

(2)

Summary

237

(1)

Notes

238

(1)

Bibliography

238

(1)

Web Sites

239

(1)

Civil Rights: Elite and Mass Interaction

240

(33)

Elite and Mass Opinions and Race

240

(2)

The Development of Civil Rights Policy

242

(2)

Mass Resistance to Desegregation

244

(3)

Racial Balancing in Public Schools

247

(2)

The Civil Rights Movement

249

(2)

Public Policy and Affirmative Action

251

(2)

The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action

253

(3)

Mass Opinion and Affirmative Action

256

(3)

Public Policy and Hispanic Americans

259

(1)

The Constitution and Gender Equality

260

(2)

Public Policy and Gender Equality

262

(4)

Abortion and the Right to Life

266

(2)

Public Policy and the Disabled

268

(1)

Summary

269

(1)

Notes

270

(2)

Bibliography

272

(1)

Web Sites

272

(1)

American Federalism: Institutional Arrangements and Public Policy

273

(21)

American Federalism

273

(1)

Why Federalism?

274

(2)

Politics and Institutional Arrangements

276

(2)

American Federalism: Variations on the Theme

278

(4)

Money and Power Flow to Washington

282

(1)

Federalism Revived?

283

(2)

Comparing Public Policies of the States

285

(2)

Institutions and Public Policy

287

(3)

Summary

290

(1)

Notes

291

(1)

Bibliography

292

(1)

Web Sites

292

(2)

Defense Policy: Strategies for Serious Games

294

(22)

National Security as a Serious Game

294

(1)

Confronting Nuclear Threats

295

(1)

Arms Control Games

296

(3)

Missile Defenses: The Limits of Deterrence

299

(1)

NATO and European Security

300

(3)

When to Use Military Force?

303

(3)

Using Military Force

306

(3)

Determining Military Force Levels

309

(4)

Summary

313

(2)

Notes

315

(1)

Bibliography

315

(1)

Web Sites

315

(1)

Homeland Security: Terrorism and Nondeterrable Threats

316

(16)

The Nature of Terrorism

316

(1)

The War on Terrorism

317

(5)

The Department of Homeland Security

322

(1)

Fighting Terrorism With Intelligence

323

(4)

Security Versus Liberty

327

(3)

Summary

330

(1)

Notes

330

(1)

Bibliography

331

(1)

Web Sites

331

(1)

Policy Evaluation: Finding Out What Happens after a Law is Passed

332

(19)

Policy Evaluation: Assessing the Impact of Public Policy

332

(2)

The Symbolic Impact of Policy

334

(1)

Program Evaluation: What Governments Usually Do

335

(2)

Program Evaluation: What Governments Can Do

337

(2)

Federal Evaluation: The General Accounting Office

339

(1)

Experimental Policy Research

340

(2)

Program Evaluation: Why It Fails So Often

342

(1)

How Bureaucrats Explain Negative Findings

343

(1)

Why Government Programs Are Seldom Terminated

344

(2)

Politics As a Substitute For Analysis

346

(1)

The Limits Of Public Policy

347

(1)

Notes

348

(1)

Bibliography

349

(1)

Web Sites

349

(2)

Index

351

Policy analysis is concerned with "who gets what" in politics and, more importantly, "why" and "what difference it makes." We are concerned not only with what policies governments pursue, but why governments pursue the policies they do, and what the consequences of these policies are. Political science, like other scientific disciplines, has developed a number of concepts and models to help describe and explain political life. These models are not really competitive in the sense that any one could be judged as the "best." Each focuses on separate elements of politics, and each helps us understand different things about political life. We begin with a brief description of eight analytic models in political science and the potential contribution of each to the study of public policy: Institutional model Process model Rational model Incremental model Group model Elite model Public choice model Game theory model Most public policies are a combination of rational planning, incrementalism, competition among groups, elite preferences, public choice, political processes, and institutional influences. Throughout this volume we employ these models, both singly and in combination, to describe and explain public policy. However, certain chapters rely more on one model than another. We attempt to describe and explain public policy by the use of these various analytic models. Readers are not only informed about public policy in a variety of key domestic policy areas; they are also encouraged to utilize these conceptual models in political science to explain the causes and consequences of public policies in these areas. The policy areas studied are: Criminal justice Health and welfare Education Economic policy Taxation International trade and immigration Environmental protection Civil rights State and local spending and services National defense Homeland Security Any of these policy areas might be studied by using more than one model. Frequently our selection of a particular analytic model to study a specific policy area was based as much on pedagogical considerations as on anything else. We simply wanted to demonstrate how political scientists employ analytic models. Once readers are familiar with the nature and uses of analytic models in political science, they may find it interesting to explore the utility of models other than the ones selected by the author in the explanation of particular policy outcomes. For example, we use an elitist model to discuss civil rights policy, but the reader may wish to view civil rights policy from the perspective of group theory. We employ public choice theory to discuss environmental policy, but the reader might prefer studying environmental problems from the perspective of the rational model. In short, this volume is not only an introduction to the study of public policy but also an introduction to the models political scientists use to describe and explain political life. The new 11th Edition ofUnderstanding Public Policybrings policy studies into the post 9/11 world. The chapter on "Defense Policy: Strategies for Serious Games" has been extensively revised to include issues surrounding the use of military force in fighting terrorism, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A new chapter, "Homeland Security: Terrorism and NonDeterrable Threats," describes the goals and methods of terrorists, the U.S. response to the 9/11 attack, the role of the intelligence community in fighting terrorism, and the Patriot Act and the problems it poses for individual liberty. The 11th Edition also includes expanded discussions in educational policy, including the controversy surrounding the "No Child Left Behind Act" and its emphasis on pupil testing. The heated issue of "diversity" in higher